Archive for the ‘News – Nouvelles – Notícias’ Category

Press release: Land grabbing and just governance discussed in a unique pan-African conference starting today ahead of Pope’s visit to Africa.

The conference will highlight the state of land grabbing in Africa, cases of resistance across the continent, as well as Church responses and its increasing engagement on issues of land grabbing.

Land of Gassol community that have been allocated to Dominion Farms in Nigeria. Photo by CEED

Land grabbing is a serious problem across Africa, requiring urgent attention since it threatens livelihoods and food security. It has already dislocated hundreds of thousands of people from their lands, deprived them of natural sources, and threatened their livelihoods.

Land grabbing and just governance, issues that constitute a significant threat to food sovereignty, will be discussed at the conference “Land Grab and Just governance in Africa”, opening today in Nairobi, Kenya, and organized by SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) with the collaboration of AEFJN (Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network), AFJN (Africa Faith & Justice Network) and CIDSE (network of Catholic development agencies). The event will gather about 150 participants from the African continent and beyond, including many people directly involved in land grabbing struggles.

Land grabbing is most often described as the acquisition of large areas of land in developing countries by international firms, governments, or individuals. In recent years land grabs have increased following the worldwide spike in food prices in 2008, prompting investors to look toward the Global South, particularly Africa, for potential land investment to produce food and biofuel for export and international markets. Large tracts of land are also being acquired for speculative purposes, known as “land banking”, where the buyer holds the land and sells it later.

Among the cases that will be presented during the conference is the one involving the Italian project Senhuile SA, which has leased 20.000 hectares of land in the Ndiaël Reserve in Senegal, land used for decades by residents of some 40 villages in the area. This resulted in an ongoing conflict with the villagers, who want the project stopped. The case of farmers in Nigeria’s Taraba State and in Kenya, who are being forced off lands that they have farmed for generations to make way for US company Dominion Farms to establish a rice plantation, will also be a subject of discussion. Cases involving Bollore land deal in Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Liberia as well as in Sierra Leone and cases from Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali will also be showcased.

This conference takes place ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic. The Pope has previously voiced great concern about the issue of land grabbing. In a speech delivered at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome in June 2015, Pope Francis warned against the “monopolising of lands of cultivation by trans-national enterprises and states, which not only deprives farmers of an essential good, but which directly affects the sovereignty of countries”. The Holy Father also pointed out that: “There are already many regions in which the foods produced go to foreign countries and the local population is doubly impoverished, because it does not have food or land”.

Further guidance and indications in relation to the dangers of land grabbing were expressed in the Pope’s Encyclical letter Laudato Si’, in which he denounces an exploitative approach towards land while recalling: “For them (indigenous communities), land is not a commodity, but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values. When they remain on their land, they themselves care for it best. Nevertheless, in various parts of the world, pressure is being put on them to abandon their homelands to make room for [industrial] agricultural or mining projects which are undertaken without regard for the degradation of nature and culture.” (146). In support of Laudato Si and ahead of the climate conference COP 21 in Paris, the bishops’ conferences across the world signed on the 22nd of October an appeal which called for COP 21 “to ensure people’s access to water and to land for climate resilient and sustainable food systems, which give priority to people driven solutions rather than profits.”

The conference aims at developing strategies to support and strengthen local communities in their struggles to stop this menace and to build resilience.

His Eminence Cardinal Njue with the women participating in the Pan-African meeting,

His Eminence John Cardinal Njue of Nairobi, Kenya has exhorted women in the Catholic in Africa to go out and make a difference in their communities and society in general by expressing their faith openly in all activities that promote the culture of justice, peace and reconciliation and development in Africa.

Addressing the closing session of a meeting of Pan-African Catholic Women in Nairobi, Cardinal Njue also asked the women to be vigilant and strive to defend the Church in the face of new forms of ideologies and attacks that are being used by some organisations and individuals with the aim of destroying the Catholic Church.

“I encourage you to uphold your dignity as women, as mothers and as wives to use your persuasive power to defend the Church at all times and for the promotion of peaceful co-existence on our dear continent-Africa,” the Cardinal appealed.

Cardinal Njue urged the women to return to their countries and families more renewed and more reconciled with their husbands and children. He reminded them that “a woman is the image of God’s love like man is the image of God’s paternity”. Therefore, he invited them to live the sacraments of their faith”. “Remain close to your Church through prayer, the observance of the Word of God and in your daily endeavours,” he added.

He concluding by assuring the women of his prayer and that of the bishops of Africa in their lay apostolate.

An explanation on a SECAM poster for the celebration of the African Year of Reconciliation from July 29, 2015 to July 29, 2016 was presented to the Cardinal by Re. Fr. M. Edouard Mombili, Secretary General of the Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC). Afterwards, a copy of the poster was given to Cardinal Njue by Rev. Fr. Samuel de Jesus Paquete, Second Deputy Secretary General of SECAM.

The meeting has as its theme: The African Woman Moving Towards the African Year of Reconciliation. The participants came from eighteen African countries.

The three-day meeting has been organised by SECAM with the support of MISSIO, Aachen, Germany, and the Solidarity Fund of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), two of the Partner Agencies of SECAM and hosted by the Association of the Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA).

We, members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, comprising of Ibadan Archdiocese, Ondo, Ilorin, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo Dioceses thank God for His blessings over us, our Dioceses and our country, Nigeria, since we last met in January 2015. We thank God for bringing our country and peoples through the national elections during the year and we appreciate God’s goodness for the hope and vigour which the outcome therefrom has restored in our nation. We pray that our hopes and aspirations for a greater Nigeria where peace, truth and justice thrive may be realized in the current administration. Having prayerfully deliberated here on matters of concern to our Church and our nation, we issue the following Communique:

The ongoing Year for the Consecrated Life

We congratulate all Consecrated Persons again on the celebration of the ongoing Year for the Consecrated Life which will end on 2nd February, 2016. As a theme, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has asked all Consecrated Persons to “Wake up the World”. In the opening paragraph of his Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consacrata, St. John Paul II also wrote: “By the profession of the evangelical counsels the characteristic features of Jesus — the chaste, poor and obedient one — are made constantly ‘visible’ in the midst of the world and the eyes of the faithful are directed towards the mystery of the Kingdom of God already at work in history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven”. We urge our Consecrated people to diligently work towards the realization of these deep and pertinent words of the Popes. In doing this, our entire Province and the world will be pervaded with the rich fragrance of God’s love and mercy.

The Pro-Life and Family Life Conference

We express gratitude to God and to all who contributed to the success of the Ibadan Provincial International Pro-Life and Family Life Conference held in April 2015 at the Pope John Paul II Centre, Seat of Wisdom Chaplaincy, University of Ibadan. The echoes of the conference have continued to reverberate in our Parishes and even beyond Nigeria. We enjoin all the Delegates, Institutions and Dioceses to continue to infuse the grassroots and the general public with the life-enhancing fruits of the exercise. We must continue to bear courageous witness to the love of God for humanity by sending his only Son that all might be saved. We commit ourselves to hosting more of such conferences to positively animate and energise our Church and society in order to safeguard them from anti-life ideologies and activities.

The Recent National World Youth Day

We congratulate our young people on the recent National World Youth Day Celebration with the theme, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy”, held in the Archdiocese of Benin City. We thank the Archbishop and the Archdiocese for hosting thousands of our young people in such a commendable manner. We urge our youth to positively respond to the theme of the eminent gathering. Too often, young people today are accused of violence, delinquency and sundry misdemeanour. We challenge our Catholic youth to spearhead the effort to change that impression, especially with the wave of the renewed hope in Nigeria. We ask them to strive to become credible agents of change and apostles of God’s mercy to families, to our country and to the world. This must be done through a positive engagement with modern media and a deliberate commitment to good morals and behaviours. We ask them to remember in all their dealings that honesty remains the best policy and a hallmark of faith and Christianity.

The Synod on the Family

As the Universal Church draws closer to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, we urge our people to continue to pray fervently for the successful outcome of the event. We call on all the Delegates to the Synod to courageously bear witness to the plan of God for humanity in creating man and woman and the family relationship. In the face of strong opposition, the world today will greatly benefit from the confirmation of the understanding of marriage as a union of a man, woman and by God’s grace, children. We restate our unmitigated belief in the sanctity of Human Life and Family Life. We emphasize that it is the duty of civil authorities to ensure that all human life is protected from conception to natural end. Society must do everything possible to facilitate the growth of family living as a way of promoting responsible parenthood, good upbringing of children and reducing juvenile delinquency.

Governance and the Desire for a new Nigeria

We note the renewed hope for a new Nigeria generated in our country since the last general elections. We thank Almighty God for the relatively limited violence and bloodshed during the exercise. We call on our compatriots to cooperate with the current administration to bring sanity back into our country by showing common determination to reject corruption, nepotism, favouritism and to enthrone in our country a regime of justice and equity, where merits are respected and the rule of law exalted.

Conclusion

Nigeria has been recognised as one of the most religious countries in the world. Yet our prayers can only truly be answered if we do the will of God as He has commanded. We therefore say to all our compatriots in the words of Joshua the son of Nun: “….Choose today whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in Mesopotamia….as for me and my household, I will serve Yahweh (Joshua 24:15).

The youth in Africa have been called upon to combat the new forms of slavery and colonialisation on the continent. This appeal was made by the President of the Episcopal Conference of the the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bishop Nicola Djomo, at the opening ceremony of a meetng of Pan-African Catholic Youth and Children that is being held in Kinshasa, DRC from August 21-25, 2 015.

The Youth in Africa, he said, should not allow false trappings of wealth lure them to move out of their countries in search of non-existent jobs in Europe and America. ” Be vigilant of the deceptions of the new forms of the destruction of the culture of life, moral, and spiritual values. Use your talents and other resources to renew and transform our continent and for the promotion of lasting justice, peace, and reconciliation in Africa. You are a treasure for Africa. The Church relies on you, your continent needs you ” Bishop Djomo emphasised. He further urged the youth to study and understand the Social Teaching of the Church to enable them be of more service to the Chuch in Africa and their various countries.

The about 120 participants representing a number of countries in Africa participating in three-day meeting taking place at the Catholic Centre of Nganda in Kinshasa were welcomed by an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa, Bishop Jean-Poierre Kwambamba. The meeting has been organised by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) in collaboration with the Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO).

In a message presented on behalf of the Secretary General of SECAM, Rev. Fr. Fr. Komakoma, the Director of Communcations of SECAM outlined the objectives of the meeting

a. as part of preparation towards engaging the youth of Africa in the promotion of Justice, Peace, Good Governance and Reconciliation at the National, Regional and Continental levels; involving the youth in the celebration of the African Year of Reconciliation (from July 29, 2015 to July 29, 2016);

b. to institute a Pan-African Organisation for bringing together at the continentl level Catholic Action Movements for the Youth and Children, and

c. To consider the possiblity of hosting, in the near future, a World Youth Day in Africa.

He pointed out that SECAM is giving priority attention to the youth who form about 70 per cent of the population of Africa. ” The youth are therefore the most important sector of the African population on whom the Church ought to count on, as a pririoty , in the scope of Chuch’s evangelisation’s efforts such as the promotion of justice, peace, reconciliation, and socio-economic development of our continent.” he added.

Later in the day Fr. Komakoma in addressing the participants urged them to take charge of their own pastrol engagements with the guidance of their Chaplains.

Some of the topics that are being treated at the meeting are:

i. The Politcal, Economic and Socio-cultural Context of Africa Today;

ii. Opportunities for the Youth in the Society and in the Church- The Role of the Church in Africa Today;

iii. The Social Doctrine of the Church within an African Context with particular reference to Theology;

iv. Leadership- Role of the African Woman;

v. Role of the Youth in the Church Today: A challenge for the youth in the Continental Year of Reconciliation.

There will be Workshops for coming up with concrete Regional and Continental programmes and projects for the year of Reconciliation and other issues discussed during the five-day meeting.

In another development, the particiapnts had the opportunity of participating in a seven-thousand strong Youth Convention of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa that was addressed by Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo of Kinshasa. The Cardinal’s public Catechesis was on the theme: Fraternity, Dialogue, Justice and Reconciliation in reference to Ephesians 2: 12-19 He also answered questions by the youth. The issues raised included that of politics, Church-State relations, economic, social and cultural challenges that are confronting them-the youth.

The Meeting on theme: “EDUCATION FOR THE CULTURE OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION” was coordinated by Rev. Fr. Leonard Sentedi, Secretary General of CENCO and the Secretary General of the Regional Episcopal Conference of Centra Africa, Rev. Fr. M. Edouard Mombili.

Apart from the host Country-DRC, Egypt has the largest number of participants

Prepared by Benedict Assorow

Director of Communications, SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar)

Caritas Central Africa President, Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, and Imam Oumar Kobine Layama were chosen for the Sergio Vieira de Mello Award as founders of the Interfaith Peace Platform in the Central African Republic. They will receive the award along with their colleague Pastor Nicolas Guérékoyamémé-Gbangou.